Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
WWE’s tournament to crown a new World Heavyweight Champion begins this week.
Who should take home the new top title on Raw?
As announced by Triple H this month, WWE Raw will get a new world title to supplement the Undisputed Universal Championship, which is held by Roman Reigns and is exclusive to his brand of SmackDown.
The tournament will kick off with two triple-threat matches on Raw. The winners of those matches will then face off later in the night and whoever is victorious will advance to a title match at Night of Champions. The same thing will occur on SmackDown this Friday night.
Over the weekend, the following participants were announced by WWE: Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz, AJ Styles, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley, Edge, Rey Mysterio and Sheamus.
Right off the bat, there are a few Superstars sticking out to me as not having much of a chance to win.
Austin Theory has a great future in WWE, but he’s not at the level of winning the world title just yet. Same goes for Damian Priest, despite an outstanding showing over the weekend against Bad Bunny at Backlash.
Rey Mysterio, The Miz and Sheamus are all perfect for adding credibility to this tournament, they just don’t seem to have enough momentum behind them to pull off an upset. Plus, Rey would have to swap brands, and the LWO is too hot for that right now.
That leaves us with seven Superstars who could believably win the tournament. So, let’s rank them in order.
7. Finn Balor
Balor has had a fantastic run with Judgment Day and completely reshaped his character for the better on TV. He’s also the first Universal Champion and someone Triple H has always been a supporter of.
That being said, I don’t think he’s winning the tournament. He just hasn’t had enough high-level wins as of late to make it feel warranted.
6. Shinsuke Nakamura
While Nakamura’s recent return to TV has been a breath of fresh air, now doesn’t feel like the right time to make him world champ.
A program in the near future with GUNTHER over the Intercontinental Championship seems more likely.
Shinsuke Nakamura returns to SmackDown with a win over Madcap Moss
5. Bobby Lashley
Lashley would make a perfect fit to hold the new World Heavyweight Championship.
There’s only one problem: Roman Reigns needs opponents for the Universal Championship on SmackDown.
And right now, after Lashley was moved to SmackDown in the recent draft, he’s needed more on the blue brand as an opponent for Reigns. That’s a program that could last for a few months.
4. Edge
The clock is ticking on Edge’s time in the ring. This is something he’s made clear in interviews and promos on TV. He also deserves one last run with a world title. I just don’t think we’re at that story yet.
Triple H also made it clear that the new World Champion will be a fighting champion and putting the belt on a part-timer would go against that.
3. Cody Rhodes
With the way WrestleMania played out, Cody Rhodes winning the new World Heavyweight Championship would feel like the biggest consolation prize ever.
Rhodes needs to defeat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship to “finish the story” like he’s been promising.
My guess is that Brock Lesnar screws things up for Cody in the tournament and their program continues until SummerSlam.
2. AJ Styles
AJ Styles is another person who would be a perfect fit to win here, if not for the fact that Reigns needs more opponents on SmackDown.
That’s why I think he’ll get to the finals of this tournament to gain momentum and ultimately build a case for a title shot against “The Tribal Chief.”
The Bloodline feuding with The OC would be an awesome way to fill time on SmackDown for a while.
1. Seth Rollins
Rollins seems like the clear-cut choice to win this tournament. He’s been holding it down the entire time there hasn’t been a world title on Raw.
Just think of the awesome matches he’s had with Superstars such as Bobby Lashley, Austin Theory, The Miz, Omos and Logan Paul.
He also clearly has the support of wrestling fans right now. All you need as evidence are the arenas filled with people singing his theme every week.
The phrase, “you deserve it” gets thrown around a lot in wrestling, but this is one of those situations where the guy truly does. He’s been the MVP of Raw for a while and should be rewarded for his stellar work.
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1’s “WWE Backstage” and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief. Follow him on Twitter @RyanSatin.
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